1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an apparatus for disintegrating calculi situated in the body of a life form, and in particular to such an apparatus having a shock wave generator and an examination apparatus for locating the position of the calculi within the body for accurately positioning the shock wave generator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An apparatus for disintegrating urinary and renal calculi, gallstones, or the like is disclosed in German OS No. 31 22 056. In this apparatus, a focussing chamber is used as a shock wave generator, in which a shock wave is generated by, for example, spark discharge. The shock wave is concentrated within the focussing chamber onto the calculus, and disintegrates the calculus. In order to make an exact determination as to whether the calculus is situated at the focal point of the focussing chamber, a locating apparatus is connected to an x-ray examination apparatus. In a transillumination mode, individual images of a stereo image pair are entered in an image memory in the video chain, being entered either individually or integrated over a plurality of images. A problem in accurately locating the position of such calculi arises, particularly when treating kidney stones, due to movement of such calculi during respiration. Thus the calculi may not be in the same position at the time the shock wave generator is energized to disintegrate the calculi as the calculi were at the time when the locating of the shock wave generator was initially set. The same problem can occur in the use of ultrasound examination devices.